Symmetry
by jellyjay
Summary: Edward makes a comparison between frighteningly simliar future kings and their right hand women. Royai. LingFen. Edwin if you squint.


**Symmetry**

For someone who acknowledged that he didn't think much, Edward wasn't blind. And he wasn't stupid either. It didn't matter that it took him awhile to catch on, the point was that he did – although once he made the connection, he spent a good five minutes marvelling at the fact that he hadn't noticed earlier seeing as the following discovery was so _blatantly obvious _it wasn't even funny.

Ling Yao and his right hand retainer were the younger, Xingese equivalents of Roy Mustang and his First Lieutenant.

Well, it was true, and he would happily call anyone who said otherwise a liar - but considering that this was something so clear that even water paled in comparison and couldn't possibly be denied, he doubted anyone would do so anyway.

Because in terms of everything but appearance, Ling Yao and Ran Fan were mirror images of Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye.

They were future king and bodyguard.

Protector and protected.

Complete idiot and quiet rationalist.

And the subordinate would die for the respective superior without even thinking if it came down to it and vice versa.

In all honesty, Ed had to wonder how the two women hadn't cracked yet. Mustang and Ling were friends, sure, but they still drove him crazy. Mustang was a damn arrogant bastard and Ling was plain annoying and a complete goof who didn't know what was good for him. And yet, Hawkeye and Ran Fan were quite able to put up with their idiotic behaviour everyday, willing to give up their very lives for Mustang and Ling's arrogant asses.

They would follow the gits to the ends of the Earth and back, and every time they got themselves into some sort of stupid situation, it was always Hawkeye and Ran Fan who were saddled with the task of dragging them out. And they did it without complaining.

And unlike their superiors, Ed respected the two women. They deserved it, he felt, for being able to put up with nonsense day in and day out. That, and they were nowhere near as bad.

So that was all well and good, but Ed couldn't even begin to list the similarities between Ling and the Bastard Colonel without wondering where to start. The two were so terrifyingly similar in so many ways it was hardly believable.

There was, of course, the fact that their goals were perhaps a little _too _ambitious. (Really now, the Colonel had a long way to go before hitting Fuhrer, and Ling was a prince, sure, but he was freaking _twelfth in line_).

They were also both cheapskates. And they were _real _full of themselves. And they were both idiots who felt the need to flirt with other women even though they were _clearly _already taken. And they were goofballs on the job. And they were both they were both _freaking taller than him. _

And the biggest similarity between both pairs?

They had soft spots for their respective partner. And they outright denied it.

Ran Fan had cut off her arm. Riza had nearly given up the will to live (until Al told him, he thought he'd never see the day) upon hearing that Mustang was supposedly dead. They never complained to their superiors. They were the only ones who could insult them and get away with it (Ran Fan wouldn't do it but if ever she did, Ling would let her off with it anyway). They hid smiles and smiled only for their respective superior.

Then on the other hand, Mustang had blindly rushed off into battle without thinking when he realised the danger his First Lieutenant was in. Ling accepted the Philosopher's Stone and became Greed with a claim that if he came back empty handed he'd never be able to face the retainer who had willingly sacrificed a limb for him. They kept their most loyal subordinates at arm's length simply because they cared _much _too much for their safety. And at times, it seemed like their jobs had been switched, and Mustang and Ling were the ones doing the protecting rather than the way it was supposed to be.

The facts had been staring him in the face since he'd met Mustang and Ling and their right hand women and he'd never noticed it until now.

For someone who acknowledged that he didn't think much, Edward wasn't blind.

Perhaps _they_ were the ones who were.


End file.
